


The Beach

by MissTeaVee



Category: Bionicle - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 10:49:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17021268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissTeaVee/pseuds/MissTeaVee
Summary: Humanverse rewrite of the MNOG, so far only one chapter, probably will never be finished





	The Beach

_First, there was light. It blinded him, though he had no desire to shield his gaze. The light was warm, welcoming, and familiar. And when a great form descended from the light there was only joy. A massive edifice, carved with a fatherly face, settled to earth, shaking the many small stones that lay strewn about the ground. As he watched, it seemed as if the light came from the beautiful edifice, and slowly, the pebbles began to roll, turning like flowers to the sun. Gradually they gathered around the mighty form, joining together into six tidy piles. The light brightened and all was well, joyful and complete._

_Then came the shadow. It too fell from the sky, but with a mighty crash, shaking the world to its foundations, causing the assembled pebbles to quiver and fall from their perfect little piles. The shadows grew, forming a great crystal, twisted and blackened. And from this crystal came Darkness. It enveloped the pebbles, swallowing the light, creeping across the form of the carved statue, draining away the light until there was barely enough to see by. A horrible rumbling filled the air as the parental stone surrendered to the inevitable, tumbling down as if exhausted._

_More shadowy crystal began to grow, springing from the form of the Great Crystal that loomed tall and mighty over the fallen edifice and its piled pebbles. Again the ground shook, shaking the pebbles further and further apart, scattering them to chaos once more. But then, from above, there came light again. Six stones, not as great in size as the crystals, but each with their own inner light fell from the sky, surrounding the Great Shadow, and their light only strengthened with the darkness lashed out. The ground shook, but they held firm, their light casting away the darkness until the crystals could do nothing but shatter into fragments, vanishing from sight. The light from the six stones reached out toward the scattered stones and the fallen edifice, and slowly, once again, they gathered, their own light growing even as they rejoined._

  
The scream of a bird woke him. He coughed, spitting sand from his mouth and shielding his eyes from the blinding glare. Slowly the world came into focus. An endless expanse of water, gleaming sands… And a strange silver canister. He rubbed his throat and realized how thirsty he was, and he approached the waves, though the smell of salt was uninviting. Just to be sure, he scooped up a handful of sea water and brought it to his lips. Disgusted, he let the water fall back into place and inspected the strange canister. His hands traced the shimmering surface, and he peered into the odd thing, seeing some sort of padding within. Curious, he clambered in, but almost immediately dragged himself out of the gleaming tube. There was nothing in it to garner such a reaction, but he knew somehow, deep inside, that there was something broken in the gleaming capsule, and that he wanted no part of it. 

He took notice of the strange imprints in the sand, and the footprints that led down along the beach. He followed these indents with his eyes; then he realized that he saw movement. “Hey! Hey!” He shouted running towards the maker of the track. But as he drew close, he felt heat on his face and skidded to a stop just in time to avoid falling into a fiery river. Frightened, he retreated, looking across the shallow chasm at the strange being he saw. “Wait!” He shouted above the gurgle and hiss of the molten river meeting the sea. The creature turned sharply, and he saw glowing red eyes behind a pitiless looking red mask, a visage of horror. He froze, praying that he wasn’t seen by this strange creature. Slowly the metallic thing turned away, and continued across the Lava Flow, unaffected by its fury.

He stayed frozen there for a long time, until finally, aroused by his thirst, he turned his back on the impassable floe and returned to the beach, wiping his forehead of sweat. As he approached the metal canister, he noticed that the surf was lifting it now and again, and wondered if it would eventually float away. He turned away from the water and noticed a strange statute, seemingly a face, carved into the rock. Peculiar. Then he realized he was standing in the same spot he’d woken up, and inspected the area for clues. Was he in a… crater? How did that happen? Surely he hadn’t fallen from here. He looked up at the cliff face and shuddered at the though.  No way, he’d remember a fall like that… wouldn’t he?

Come to think of it…

He rubbed his head and went to the reflective canister to inspect himself and narrowed his eyes at what he saw. Nothing was familiar to him. He looked down at himself and pulled at his clothes, dull red leggings, soft brown shoes, and a loose shirt that might have once been white. He had a belt, and there was a clip on it that was presently empty. He shook his head and returned to the shade of the cliff, sitting down hard in the coarse sand. Maybe it would rain soon. He shifted, meaning to lay down when he noticed the bag, and he reached out and grabbed it, pulling it to himself to inspect. It was a sturdy satchel, though there didn’t seem to be much in it, just a small empty packet and a little bladder with the end tied tightly shut. When he picked up the bladder, it wobbled and his eyes lit up in delight.

Water! He carefully held the bladder, undoing the tight string and unfolding the spout. Then without hesitation he downed the whole lot in one long draught. His throat no longer burning, he folded up the empty bladder and put it back in his pack. It had to be his pack; there was no one else around. Well except… He glanced towards the faraway Lava flow. Shaking his head, he stood up, securing the pack over his shoulder.

“Might as well see what’s in the other direction,” He said to himself. “Nothing else to do.” As he stood, brushing himself off, he noticed another object in the sand and snatched it up. It was a mask. He held it in both hands, inspecting the metallic visage curiously. After a moment he lifted it to his face and put it on, securing it behind his head. He could see perfectly well through the eyeholes, but it was just awkward to wear. Still, it had to be his, so after a few seconds thought he removed it and clipped it to the hook on his belt. He was pleased to discover that it hung in such a way that it didn’t impede his movement or rub his leg uncomfortably.

He took one last quick look around to see if there was anything else with his name on it (Metaphorically, though if his name was written on something, that’d be helpful too.) And then he headed turned away from the silver canister and walked along the beach. He saw another cliff, and winding their way up along it; stairs. Curious, he made his way up the cliff side to the summit. First to catch his eye was the arrangement of massive carved stones. Looking upon it, he recalled the strange dream that had ushered him into wakefulness. He mused that the stones even seemed to look like the ones from his dream. After a time, he looked away and noticed the other thing. The path was treacherously narrow, but he made his way slowly towards the stone pedestal and the metallic contraption it housed. He looked at the stone base first, realizing that it was carved with esoteric symbols, and inset with crystals. He wasn’t sure what it all meant, and looking through the device, which he figured was a telescope, yielded little under the sun’s glare. Shrugging, he settled into the bit of shade provided by the Telescope’s mount, wishing he had a little more water.

For a while, he dozed in the shade, becoming aware of a grumbling in his stomach, but there wasn’t much he could do about it, so he did his best to ignore it. Finally, he acknowledged to himself that he had no idea what to do next. There was no more water, he had no food, and it seemed there was no way out. Maybe if he looked he’d find a way to climb the cliffs in search of food, water and shelter, but for now, it seemed hopeless. He stared out over the ocean unseeingly, wondering what fate had in store. Suddenly he roused himself, realizing that he was watching a boat skimming towards the beach. He leapt to his feet and waved, shouting as loud as he could, coming as near to the cliff edge as he dared. Amazingly, he saw the boat actually slow, and its single occupant waved back at him and brought the boat around towards the shore. He grabbed his bag and hurried down the steep staircase, too excited to fear a fall. Once he achieved the sand, he broke into a run towards the boat. Surprisingly, the pilot met him halfway.

“Oh help! Please, you have to help, my village has been attacked!” She cried. Confused, he skidded to a stop.

“W-what happened, who are you?” He asked, alarmed. She looked at him with tearful eyes and took several breaths to compose herself. When she looked at him again, her blue eyes were steadier.

“I am Maku.” She said. “I-was away from my village when the rahi attacked, and when I returned the monsters were everywhere, destroying everything in sight!”

She went on to detail the attack to him, seemingly unaware of his confusion. Her description of her home was fantastical, a floating village in the sheltered bay to the north, its people fishers and divers by trade. She explained that it seemed the Rahi must have chased her people- the Ga-matoran into a hut, where they had barricaded themselves, only for the structure’s supports to be torn out by the incensed monster. The hut had sunk beneath the waves. “They’ll be okay!” She assured him, though it seemed from a great force of will. “The huts are water tight and very strong! Thought they will run out of air eventually…”

“What can I do to help?” He asked, though it seemed to him there was nothing. The woman perked up at the offer and gave him a weak smile.

“Take my boat, head north to my village, at least let them know I’m alright! If you can find Turaga Nokama see if she has a plan for escape! She is very wise and cunning, and might know what to do! I will look for the Toa, Nokama said they had arrived. If the Rahi are still near the village only Toa Gali could defeat them all.” Said Maku, turning towards the surf. To the surprise of the memory-less man she pulled off her knee-length skirt and let it fall, leaving her in only her breast-wrap and a tight loincloth. Though the strange wraps tied around her ankles seemed to be made of the same material as her skirt, they didn’t slow her. She paused only to glance back at him, and then she was gone, vanishing into the surf.

It had seemed to him that when she entered the Water, Maku had become like a sea creature herself, cutting smoothly through the waves and rapidly she disappeared around the rocky cliff below the telescope. After a moment, the scruffy young man stepped into the surf and picked up Maku’s skirt, thinking that she probably would want it later. Holding it, he noticed it was made of woven feathers in shades of blue, artfully selected so that the darkest lined the bottom of the garment. 

Shaking his head, he clambered into the boat, tossed the skirt onto a bench and spent a few minutes figuring out how to turn it on, before he pushed it out into the water and started it in the same direction Maku had gone. As he rounded the cliff, he saw her clambering up a steep rock face, and gave her a wave before turning the boat away from shore, and casting his gaze north. Once he was sure that he was clear, heading straight and not towards any obstacles, he removed his hands from the rudder for a few moments, and stared at them. He heard chuckling and realized it was coming from him. Finally, he shook his head, still chuckling.

“I have no idea what’s going on,” He said to himself, and then he laid hands on the rudder control again, watching for Maku’s village.


End file.
